Catholic Church in Scotland Declares War on Marriage Equality

Not wanting to be outdone in the alarmist anti-LGBT hysteria department by their Anglican brethren (who threatened last month to disestablish the Church of England from the state if the government legalizes same-sex marriage), the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland have declared war on marriage equality. Speaking yesterday to the UK’s Sunday Times newspaper, Cardinal Keith O’Brien — the senior-most Catholic in Scotland — did not mince words on the subject:

“Marriage is under threat and politicians need to know the Catholic Church will bear any burden and meeting any cost in its defense. . . We will use this opportunity to remind Catholics of the importance of marriage as a union of a man and a woman and to urge them to be generous in contributing to a special collection which will be used to support initiatives in defense of marriage.”

O’Brien also threatened the Scottish government, warning that it would face what he called an “unprecedented backlash” if it allowed same-sex couples equal access to civil marriage.

Gay Star News reports that O’Brien has a history of anti-gay comments, having previously described marriage equality as a “grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right.” O’Brien has also falsely claimed that Scottish Catholic churches would be compelled to marry same-sex couples, made the baseless assertion that same-sex relationships are unhealthy, inferior to opposite-sex relationships, and detrimental to children, and deliriously warned that marriage equality would force schools to stock what he called “homosexual fairy stories.” The news source also quotes a Catholic Church spokesperson who said that this latest escalation “. . . is a straight-forward plan by the church to up the stakes in the war on gay marriage [sic].”

Speaking on behalf of the Equality Network, the charity campaigning for marriage equality in Scotland, Policy Coordinator Tom French said:

“For the Catholic Church to spend another £100,000 fighting LGBT equality in its self-declared ‘war on gay marriage’ seems to be an aggressive, undemocratic and unchristian thing to do.

At a time of financial crisis, when poverty and deprivation are on the rise, surely there are better things that this money could be spent on. We know that two-thirds of Scots, and a majority of Scottish Catholics, support same-sex marriage. We trust that the Scottish Government will make its decision based on democratic principles and the evidence, and not who can spend the most money. We urge the Scottish Government to stand up for equality and not give in to threats.”

While Cardinal O’Brien’s outrageous, “you’re-either-with-us-or-you’re-with-the-gay-marriage-terrorists” rhetoric is sure to induce some well-deserved eye rolling (and believe me, it sure did here), we’d be foolish not to realize that the exact same thing will happen with increased regularity on this side of the pond as public support for marriage equality continues to grow rapidly. Don’t believe me? Some of America’s highest-rankingCatholicofficials are already making similarly outlandish claims, and both the United States Conferenceof Catholic Bishops and Pope Benedict XVI himself have endorsed the spiritual bullying of LGBT people.

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9 Comments

Time to start digging and finding out how many child-rapists he’s protected.

Gary (NJ)July 9, 2012 at 4:25 pm -

I thought QEII came out in favor of marriage equality quite a while ago. I didn’t hear any ‘unprecedented backlash’ back then. Besides, how many RC churches does Scotland have, about 2 or 3?

StraightGrandmotherJuly 9, 2012 at 4:43 pm -

The entire staff for the Queen is gay. Hopefully she doesn’t just see them as servants…

Peter HargmierJuly 9, 2012 at 6:54 pm -

“Not wanting to be outdone in the alarmist anti-LGBT hysteria department by their Anglican brethren (who threatened last month to disestablish the Church of England from the state if the government legalizes same-sex marriage)”

Yet another solid reason to go ahead with marriage equality.

AultonJuly 9, 2012 at 6:58 pm -

You would think with the Church’s reputation, the Church wouldn’t be waging any wars against anyone. Oh well. They’ve just lost any right they had to whinge about any backlashes, not that they ever had that right, concerning their history.

Steve DelaneyJuly 9, 2012 at 7:07 pm -

“…and deliriously warned that marriage equality would force schools to stock what he called “homosexual fairy stories.”

Imagine…. the Catholic church, the biggest purveyor of fairy stories in the world, is accusing SOMEONE ELSE of selling fairy stories! The hypocrisy of the Catholic hierarchy is astounding in its depth and scale. This is also proof that the church cries poor when it comes to parishes, schools and sexual abuse victims, but it declares itself willing to spend ANY AMOUNT on publicizing its view on an issue which it hopes distracts the faithful from its own moral failings. Again, the hypocrisy of the Catholic hierarchy is astounding in its depth and scale.

KimJuly 9, 2012 at 7:51 pm -

I cant believe the Catholic Church has the audacity to speak out on any social issue these days after going through the daily embarrassment of never-ending stories about pedophile priests (and Cardinals who covered them up). You’d think the church would just want to lay low & try to rebuild their image in the most inconspicuous manner.

John PatrickJuly 9, 2012 at 8:20 pm -

Another closeted homosexual prelate dressed in fancy garments and jewels tries mightily to prove to the public he is not gay.

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